Vancouver (Part Two)

On my last day in Vancouver, I wanted to head into another part of town to see the Museum of Anthropology, on the campus of the University of British Columbia. I popped on a bus into the West End, which is absolutely beautiful. Quaint old bungalows, unique boutiques, and organic grocery stores. The campus itself was also beautiful.

My first stop (after working at the local Starbucks, of course) was the Nitobe Memorial Garden. After visiting a traditional Ming Dynasty Chinese garden, I thought it would only be fitting to also explore a traditional Japanese garden.

Beautiful, but not quite as peaceful as the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Chinese Garden. Mostly, I think, because it was in the middle of a bustling campus, and full of boisterous college students. I might just have to go to China and Japan to compare the originals, to get a true feeling of each type of garden.

Next, I headed up the street to the Museum of Anthropology, which focuses on art and artifacts from the First Nations peoples of British Columbia, specifically the Musqueam (on whose land the museum was built), the Haida, and the Kwakwaka'wakw.

One of the museum's most important pieces is The Raven and the First Men by Haida artist Bill Reid. It depicts a moment in Haida history when Raven saved the first men from a giant clam shell. This massive cedar sculpture is depicted on the back of the Canadian twenty dollar bill.

In addition to First People's art and artifacts, the museum also has a huge collection of artifacts from cultures around the globe. Rather than store the bulk of these collections in cases locked away from public view, the Museum of Anthropology created the Multiversity Galleries. This consists of dozens of display cases, organized by geographical region, which highlight key artifacts from those cultures, as well as tons of drawers which visitors can pull open to discover even more treasures. It's like getting free reign to explore are really cool, really huge antique shop.

Very cool. One day, when I have a few days to spare, I would love to go back and just wander through the entire Multiversity Galleries, exploring every case and every drawer. It would be like taking a walk through the entire expanse of human history.

That marked the end of my time in Vancouver. Check back to get the details on my time in Seattle, with Buzz blog sisters Dona Sarkar and Heather Davis. More soon!

Hugs,
TLC

Vancouver (Part One)

After the long train trek across Canada, I was super excited to arrive in Vancouver--home of the 2010 Winter Olympics! I'd never been in the Pacific Northwest, so this was a major first. After arriving at the train station, I grabbed the SkyTrain to my hotel.

Thankfully, they had a room ready early, so I dropped off my stuff and headed out to explore. Vancouver is a truly beautiful city, with lots of blooming trees and flowers all around.

And, like any good West Coast city, they also have a plethora of sushi restaurants. There were no less than six within a one block radius of my hotel. I chose Sushi Zero One because they got great ratings on Yelp, and I was not disappointed.

On my second day in Vancouver, my plans was to visit Chinatown (the second largest in North America) and, especially, the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Chinese Garden and the neighboring Dr. Sun Yat Sen Park.

The garden is a faithful recreation of Ming Dynasty era scholar's garden from the Suzhou province of China. All the materials except for the plants and trees was imported from China, to achieve a truly authentic recreation. Here are some of my favorite pictures from that adventure.

As you can (hopefully) tell from the pictures, the garden was simply gorgeous. It was a masterpiece of Yin and Yang, of balance and peaceful beauty. You could walk through the relatively small garden for hours, or just find a place to sit and think, and the rest of the crazy world beyond the garden walls would simply ... drift away.

That night, wanting to continue my exploration of Chinese culture, I attended the Shen Yun Performing Arts at the beautiful Queen Elizabeth Theatre.

I have to say I was extremely disappointed. The classical Chinese dancing was absolutely breathtaking, but the lighting and the digital projection screen animations were pretty awful. They could just crap the projections and hire a lighting designer instead.

On top of that, the performance seemed to be more like a two hour mass recruitment to the Falun Dafa religion than an actual dance performance. (I won't use the religious C word here, but that's what it felt like.)

Will I go see classical Chinese dance again? Without a doubt. Will I go see the Shen Yun Performing Arts again? Um, no.

Hugs,
TLC

From Toronto to Vancouver

So, if you've been following my travel adventures, you know that the big keystone in the middle of my seven week saga was the five day train journey across Canada. Late Saturday night, I boarded train #1, the Canadian, in Toronto. After dropping my things in my berth:

I headed back to the Park car for champagne and to watch the city disappear as we rolled out of town.

I felt all kinds of giddy about my first overnight train trip. It was like walking into the pages of one of my favorite books, Murder on the Orient Express. And there was definitely a cast of characters to rival Ms. Christie's own. There was:

• The snobby, well-traveled know-it-all with an ill husband.
• The never-serious Irish gentleman who'd lost two wives, one to divorce and one to cancer.
• The Gaelic grandmother busy knitting a throw for her newest grandchild.
• The token German tourist, complete with fanny pack and wearing socks with sandals.
• The gruff Scottish barkeep, on his last journey.
• The kooky small town man traveling without his wife.
• The middle-aged couple trying to save their marriage.
• The dad with two kids in footie pajamas.
• The Japanese girl who'd been living in Canada on a temporary work visa.

Okay, so I might have used a little imaginative interpretation on these characters, but not much.

After champange, I headed back to my berth--no easy feat, since I had to pass through no less than five cars with tiny corridors to reach mine. Sleeping on the train was ... an experience. The bed was super comfortable, and for the most part the rocking motion was soothing. But every so often it would become less-than-soothing, and any side-sleeper on the train (aka me) would be pitched either onto their back or their face.

In the morning, we woke to beautiful tree-lined scenery, dotted be the occasional lake.

The further north into Ontario we went, the more snow and the more ice we saw.

Our first daylight hours stop was in the oh-so-small town of Hornepayne. Everyone laughed at me when I jumped out with my computer, searching for wireless internet. From this picture of the Hornepayne train station, you can probably guess why.

Finally, on the second morning of the trip, we arrived in Winnipeg for a four hour stop. My porter gave me great advice on where to find coffee and wifi, and I headed out. The coffee shop was right across the plaza from the Forks Market (which I thought Twilight fans might find amusing).

It's actually a massive indoor market, with tons of stalls that sell souvenirs, worldwide gifts, treats, fresh produce, and--of course--food! I walked away with a postcard, dried cantaloupe, sesame sticks, and a big hunk of maple fudge. (I'm not a huge fudge fan, but I adore anything maple.)

Next, we moved into the Canadian plains. Which were not nearly as plain as I'd been led to believe. Sure, there was a lot more flat and a lot fewer trees, and there was tons of agriculture in the form of wheat, cattle, and granaries. But there was also some beautiful, glacier-carved landscape.

Our train arrived early in Melville, so we had time to get out and explore. I made a run for the grocery store, picking up a magazine and a Diet Coke, but still had the chance to snap some picks of the old car graveyard right next to the train station.

One of the interesting--and occasionally awkward--things about train travel, is you don't really get to pick your meal companions. Sometimes you get stuck with a German tourist and a shy/uncomfortable young man with braces and you have to spend your meal in a tense, heavy silence. But sometimes, you get wonderful dinner companions, like a physical trainer from Australia and an early-20s traveler from Japan. My meals with Donna and Naho were lovely. (Please don't notice my awful train hair and my makeup-free face.)

Eventually, we got to the most beautiful and most scenic part of the voyage ... the Canadian Rockies!

We could see them from miles away. But when we came out of this tunnel:

We were inside Jasper National Park. And right outside our train window was a herd of bighorn sheep.

We also saw a small herd of elk and a few whitetail dear. Sadly, no moose or bear made an appearance. As my mother always says, then I have a reason to go back.

I've spent a lot of time in and around the Colorado Rockies, so it was interesting to how this northern branch was both similar and yet very different. Here are a few of my favorite pics.

And especially this picture of Pyramid Falls, which I only had a split-second to snap, but till turned out great.

We actually had a bit of excitement on the last night. While my companions and I were finishing up dinner, they made a call for a doctor (needed in my train car) over the PA system. A woman in the dining car was a doctor and went to help. Turns out, a man had some kind of heart attack or something. He literally died--flatlined--and the doctor brought him back! We had to wait for the ambulance to come meet the train and take him to a hospital. Last we knew, he was doing fine. But talk about scary!

Then, before I knew it, the train was rolling into Vancouver and my porter was hefting my suitcase out onto the platform. I have to say, the lack of internet not withstanding, the train journey was absolutely wonderful. I think I picked the best time of year, of course. Our train only had nine cars, whereas in the summer it can get up to thrity-eight! Nope, I'm perfectly happy with my off-season travels, thank you very much.

Now I'm in Vancouver, my last international destination, and will be returning to the states this weekend. I'm most excited to be able to turn my phone back on!

Hugs,
TLC

Proper Manuscript Format

First of all, the title of this blog is misleading. There is no such thing as a single proper way to format a manuscript. Agents and editors read hundreds of queries, partials and full manuscripts every week. All most of them really care about is that it's easy on the eyes.

Here is the bare minimum you need to do:

• leave plenty of margin (at least 1" all around)
• have adequate line spacing (at least 1.5)
• use a simple 12 point serif font (one with the little feet, like Courier or Times New Roman)
• include a header with your title and last name on the left, page number on the right
• include a title page with the title, your name, and your contact info
• if you have an agent, include his/her contact info on the title page, too

And here are some important don'ts:

• don't use a decorative font
• don't use colored paper
• don't include a copyright notice (it's implied)
• don't do anything cutesy or attention grabbing

I know it's scary, but you have to trust the writing. All of the fancy gimmicks in the world won't matter of the writing isn't there. And, in fact, they might signal to the editor that you're an amateur. If you don't trust your own writing to do the trick, they why should she?

All the points above are the very basics, but I know some of you might want details about how I, specifically, format my manuscripts. My method is pretty uniquely mine, and I developed it so my manuscript page count would match the final book page count. Here's what I do:

• top, left, right margins at 1.25"
• bottom margin at 1"
• line spacing at exactly 25
• 12 point Palatino Linotype font (it's pretty and legible)

I have a lot of other little formatting things I do--like leaving 180pts before and 25pts after chapter headings, setting chapter headings in all caps, not indenting the first paragraph of each scene, and including my email address on the second line of the header--but these are all just personal preferences. Make your manuscript clean and easy to read, include important info (like your or your agent's contact info), and--above all else--make the writing shine. Because if the writing is there... none of the rest of this matters.

Hugs,
TLC

Characters In My Head

When I think about my life, I tend to divide it into two distinct eras. BW (before writing) and AW (after writing). As a BW girl, there were a lot of things that writers talked about that I thought were one-way tickets to the crazy house. If you've ever seen the movie Alex & Emma (and I think every writer should) I was definitely an Emma.

Now, in the AW time of my life, most of the crazy house things actually ... make sense. A lot of those things have to do with characters, how they come to life in your head and talk to you and tell you how to do things. As crazy as that sounds, it's kind of true. Not in a literal, sign-me-up-for-the-asylum way, but in a more abstract, get-to-know-them way. Let me explain.

I have a whole population of characters in my mind. Characters whose stories I don't know yet, who are still a bit mysterious about themselves and their past, present and future. (Like, for example, all the secondary characters in OH. MY. GODS. and FORGIVE MY FINS. They have stories, too, you know.) Here are some of the other characters currently residing in my subconscious, waiting for full revelation:

• A girl who lives in a very different world from our own.
• A self-proclaimed science geek.
• A girl who wants to make a difference.
• A girl facing a lifetime of not knowing.
• A girl with a magical trinket.
• Four girls from an era gone by.
• A girl with a score to settle.
• A girl who told a lie and now has to face the truth.
• Five girls who play a fateful party game.

And there are countless more.

Every so often I think about these characters, I roll them around in my mind and try to figure out who they are and what they need to do. The pieces fall into place gradually, a tiny bit at a time. And, eventually, their story will smack me in my head and I'll know just what to write.

Someday, when I figure it all out, I hope you'll get to read their stories.

Hugs,
TLC

Toronto

After a few days each in Montreal and Quebec, Toronto was my brief stopover before the Canadian train across the continent to Vancouver. Although it was not my favorite stop on this trip (Montreal holds that title for the moment) I can't help but appreciate the diversity of cultures and arts and just people in general that Toronto has to offer.

Toronto has, arguably, the most ethnic neighborhoods of any city in North America. And each of these neighborhoods retain their individual cultures. It truly exemplifies the idea that while the United States is a melting pot, Canada is a mosaic. So true, so true.

I was lucky enough to meet up with Toronto native and fabulous author, Bev Katz Rosenbaum. We met in my hotel lobby and went for a wonderful sushi lunch, then met her husband back at my hotel for a quick driving tour of the city. (My aching feet were oh so glad for the car ride!)

They took me through practically every neighborhood in the city. Chinatown. Kensington Market. Little Italy. Koreatown. Yorkville. Geez, I can't even remember them all. First we drove down by the lake shore, where I snapped this pic of the famous CN tower.

We flew by the Ontario College of Art and Design, with this fun, lighthearted addition on the top:

And the Royal Ontario Museum, with a less than lovely addition of it's own.

We even saw the Bata Shoe Museum. It's a museum of SHOES! It looks awesome, and if I ever return it's a definite must see.

Bev and her husband and I got ice cream in the neighborhood where all the stars hang out during the Toronto Film Festival. (I had hazelnut, by the way, because I'm sure you're dying to know.) Then they whipped me back to my hotel, where I promptly took a nap before snagging dinner in the hotel.

In the morning, I was a girl on a mission. I needed to do laundry. After a quick Google search, I found one not too far from my hotel. It turned out to be on an adorable little block with tons of yummy smelling cafes.

With a suitcase full of fresh, clean clothes, I headed in the direction of the train station (way early, of course). But I couldn't pass up stopping at the World's Biggest Bookstore. (It was a little disappointing, actually. I thought they, of all bookstores in Canada, would have my books. But no.)

The walk (okay, trek--I was dragging my suitcase behind me, after all) to the train station was pretty interesting. I passed by Toronto's huge downtown mall, the Eaton Center. I was this very cool chalk art painting in progress.

And these extremely cool old buildings that I totally want to buy, renovate, and live in. Or maybe write a character who lives in one.

Finally, I made it to Union Station, which is also in the shadow of the CN Tower.

And inside, while I was recovering from my walk trek, I saw this random bride waiting for... I'm not sure what.

Now, as I write this, I'm waiting in the lovely and comfortable and amenity-filled Panorama Lounge in Union Station. Because I am a sleeper class passenger on the long train (though I got the $1050 ticket for an amazing $400) I get to chill in the quiet lounge, working at a real desktop, and consuming as many coffee drinks, juices, and cans of soda as I can handle.

Internet connections will be few and far between over the next few days, so I've pre-posted a couple of writing-related blogs to fill the time.

See you again in Vancouver!

Hugs,
TLC